Apparatus for producing paper cylinders for nursing seedlings

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for continuously producing containers for the nursing of plant seedlings which are bottomless and square or hexagonal in horizontal cross-section. The apparatus comprises pasting means for continuously applying paste transverse to a tape assembly in the form of lines or dotted lines, means for forming substantially non-pasted units at certain fixed intervals, means for transferring the pasted tape assembly, means for cutting the tape assembly into unit lengths, and rotary laminating means adapted to receive the unit length pieces of tape one by one and laminate them together, all of these means being interlocked with one another to rotate responsive to each other.

[ Sept. 24, 1974 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PAPER CYLINDERS FOR NURSING SEEDLINGS [75] Inventors: Katsumi Kobayashi; Reiji Takeda;

Kimiaki Sato, all of Hokkaido, Japan [73] Assignee: Nippon Tensai Seito Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Feb. 23, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 335,074

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [58] Field of Search 156/512, 197, 264; 93/1 H, 93/1 R, 37 R, 77 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,734,843 2/1956 Steele 156/197 Sheridan 156/512 3,515,036 6/1970 Oki et al. 93/! R 3,528,334 9/1970 Geschwender 93/1 H FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 182,403 l/l963 Sweden 933/] H 1,045,783 12/1958 Germany 93/] H Primary ExaminerRoy Lake Assistant Examiner-James F. Coan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Browdy & Neimark [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for continuously producing containers for the nursing of plant seedlings which are bottomless and square or hexagonal in horizontal cross-section. The apparatus comprises pasting means for continuously applying paste transverse to a tape assembly in the form of lines or dotted lines, means for forming substantially non-pasted units at certain fixed intervals, means for transferring the pasted tape assembly, means for cutting the tape assembly into unit lengths, and rotary laminating means adapted to receive the unit length pieces of tape one by one and laminate them together, all of these means being interlocked with one another to rotate responsive to each other.

6 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENIEusP24m4 3.831. 263

SBEUZUFd FIG. 3

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PAPER CYLINDERS FOR NURSING SEEDLINGS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for continuously producing paper cylinder assemblies, commonly called paper pots, for the nursing of seedlings or young plants.

The paper cylinders of the type referred to are containers which are bottomless and square or hexagonal in horizontal cross-section, as exemplified in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho-38-25715. The individual containers may be joined together with a water soluble paste or adhesive into a honeycomb-like assembly. Such assembly is normally in a collapsed or folded state representing a small volume, however, in use, it is expanded out to its full size to form a plurality of bottomless pot-like containers may then be filled with soil to provide a nursery for young plants in which seeding, irrigation, and nursing can take place.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Prior art paper cylinders of the type described above have been produced by first applying non-watersoluble paste or adhesive along one edge of a tapeshaped paper strip and then folding it to form a flat elongated hollow-cylindrical body. A plurality of such cylindrical bodies are then joined together by laying them one on the other in such a manner that they are overlapped along one half or one third of their width 3 and then bonding them together with water soluble paste to form a wider strip-shaped tape. The tape assembly is then vertically cut to a predetermined length, thereby forming a plurality of unit structures. Water soluble paste is then applied to one or both sides of each unit structure and a predetermined number of such units are then bonded together to produce the desired article.

It is impossible to utilize the techniques for manufacturing honeycomb structures used for industrial purposes, such as building constructions or airplanes, since it is essential for the production of the paper cylinders to form each bonded section in double layers and to make such section easily separable when water is poured in for irrigation. The formation of pressureflattened cylindrical bodies from a tape-shaped paper strip and formation of a wider tape from such bodies can be performed at high speed. However, the steps of cutting such tape into smaller pieces and bonding them together have required great precision and also must be practiced by taking into consideration the possible expansion or contraction of the paper that could have taken place in the preceding steps, so that such cutting and bonding steps cannot be carried out as satisfactorily at high speed and, therefore, require much time and labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The shortcomings of the prior art paper cylinder manufacturing devices are satisfactorily overcome by the present invention. An object of the present invention is thus to overcome the defects of the prior art such as indicated above.

Another object of the present invention is to provide for the transporting and cutting of the pasted paper cylinders without the paste ever contacting any of the transporting or cutting apparatus.

A further object is to provide a completely automated device which carries out the entire production of the paper cylinder assemblies without such assemblies ever being contacted by human hands.

Yet another object is a device which can produce paper cylinders from strip-shaped paper tapes at high speed and in succession.

In furtherance of these and other objects, a principal feature of the present invention is a method of applying the paste to the tape transversely in the form of lines or dotted lines. Another feature of the invention is the interruption of paste application to one unit length of tape after the feed of a predetermined length of such tape required for the production of one assembly of paper cylinders. An alternate to the last described feature is the pasting of paper slits of a size corresponding to the length of one unit across the tape. Other features include feeding the tape to a cutting machine by use of a roller having an uneven surface, cutting the tape into unit lengths, feeding the cut unit lengths of tape into a recess of a rotating serrated pressure wheel, further transferring them onto a lining table on which the unit tapes are arranged in a side-by-side relationship, and pressing and bonding the unit tapes together by the backside of the serrated pressure wheel.

Thus, according to the present invention, since paste is applied in lines or dotted lines, the recessed portion of the feed roller steps over the pasted part to allow 0 very smooth and efficient delivery of the tape and as paste is not applied to the entire surface of the tape, unlike the conventional manner, every paper cylinder can be easily separated from the other when so desired after the seedlings have been sufficiently grown. Further, since there are provided substantially non-pasted unit lengths at certain fixed intervals along the tape, it is possible to produce many assemblies of paper pots merely by cutting the tape to unit lengths and bonding them together. Moreover, use of a rotary laminating device for bonding of unit lengths of tape has made it possible to carry out high speed continuous operation and to effect uniform paste application. I

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of the present apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a front view of a serrated pressure wheel used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the pasting means.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the pasting roller liftup mechanism. FIG. 6 is a front view of the apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a strip-shaped tape assembly illustrating the hollow tapes in their laminated state.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of a cage-shaped pasting roller.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of a rose-shaped roller.

For a better understanding of the invention, an embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the attached drawing, it being understood that this embodiment is intended as merely exemplary and in no way limitative.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring generally to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, letter A indicates a strip-shaped tape assembly. A1 shows juxtaposed rows of hollow tapes on the upper side and A2 the similar rows of hollow tape on the lower side, with every adjoining upper and lower tape being overlapped through one third of their width and bonded together with a water-soluble paste or adhesive, thus constituting as a whole a strip-shaped tape assembly A. Numeral 1 denotes the frame of the apparatus, 2 a paste containing box, 3 a paste furnishing roller, 4 a cage-shaped pasting roller, and 5 a holding roller. The pasting portion on the outside of the cage of the cage-shaped pasting roller 4 may be constructed from a horizontal rod, or such pasting roller may be a roller having an uneven surface. The uneven surface may be made of woods, metals or synthetic materials.

The paste furnishing roller 3 has its axis 3 loosely journalled in the frame 1 while the axis 4' of the cageshaped pasting roller 4 is pivotally connected to the axis 3 of the paste furnishing roller 3 through a lever 6 and is also vertically movable in the frame 1 as shown in FIG. 4. The cageshaped pasting roller 4 is also supported by the roller 5 with the tape A interposed therebetween, the roller 5 being rotatable with its axis loosely journalled in the frame 1. Thus, it will be understood that the cage-shaped pasting roller 4 when acted on by an external force is movable about the axis 3' in such a manner that the external surface of the pasting roller 4 is kept in contact with the paste furnishing roller 3.

Referring now to FIG. 5, numerals 7 and 8 designate carns, 9 and 10 gears, and 11 and 12 protuberances on the cams 7 and 8, respectively. The cam 7 and gear 9 are formed smaller in diameter at the respective given ratios than the cam 8 and gear 10, respectively. Gears 9 and 10 are meshed with each other and cam 7 and gear 9 are secured on the axis 4 while cam 8 and gear 10 are integral with each other and rotatably journalled in the frame 1. Thus, cams 7 and 8 rotate at different rotational velocities in such a manner that their respective protuberances 11 and 12 will come into contact with one another upon a predetermined amount of rotation to slightly raise up the cageshaped pasting roller 4. During this period, no paste application is made to the tape assembly. That is, application of paste to one unit length is interrupted at certain given intervals while the tape assembly is fed successively.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 13 is a roseshaped feed roller and 14 is a support roller, both rollers being loosely journalled in the frame 1. The feed roller 13 has an uneven surface and is interlocked with the cage-shaped roller 4 to rotate at the same peripheral velocity. The feed roller 13 is also designed such that its concavity is opposed to the convexity of the cage-shaped roller 4 so that the tape is delivered while being held by the rollers with the pasted portion of the tape being clasped between the concavity of the feed rollers 13 and the convexity of the pasting roller 4. Although only one feed roller is shown, two or more feed rollers may be provided in a side-by-side relationship to ensure the positive delivery of the tape. In some cases, where cartain types of paper are used for tape, the tape A may meander to the right or left. In such cases, the degree of such meander is detected by an air or electric device used in the printing art. The feed roller 13 is then moved to the right or left in order to return the tape A to its correct position by an edge position control apparatus or other suitable device.

Cutting rollers 15 and 16 are adapted to rotate at the same speed through associated gears and are provided on their surfaces with cutting edges arranged at intervals corresponding to one unit tape length. The cutting rollers 15 and 16 are interlocked with the pasting roller 4 through the axis 15' so as to cut the tape assembly upon passage of one unit length thereof. 17 and 18 are rollers, 17 is the axis of roller 17, and 19 is a belt which is slightly faster in linear velocity than the tape A.

20 and 21 are pulleys, 20 is the axis of the pulley 20, 22 is a belt, and 23 are protuberances provided on the belt 22. Belt 22 is passed around pulleys 20 and 21 at both ends and arranged to be rotated by the shaft 20' at a slightly lower linear velocity than the belt 19.

The protuberances 23 are located at fixed intervals on the belt 22 so that each unit length paper cylinder will be carried forward on the belt 19 by being held by one of the protuberances 23 as shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, which shows the rotary laminating means, 24 is a serrated pressure wheel, 25 are sawtooth-like teeth formed along the periphery of the serrated pressure wheel 24, and 26 is a shaft on which the wheel 24 is mounted. The shaft 26 is loosely journalled in the frame 1. Said serrated pressure wheel 24 is rotated in concert with the cage-shaped roller 4. Although not shown, the operative synchronization of the cage-shaped pasting roller 4, rose-shaped feed roller 13, cutting roller 15, belts 19 and 22, and serrated pressure wheel 24 may be accomplished by providing a rotating shaft in the side of the frame 1 so that the "shafts 3', 4', 13, 15', 17, 21 and 26 will be rotated at respectively predetermined frequencies through gearing, or by using various types of electric speed controlling devices available on the market. 27 is a support block and 28 is a paper pot. The support block 27 is so arranged as to allow entrance of the toothed portion 25 of the pressure wheel 24 so as to receive each unit paper cylinder retained in the inside of the toothed portion 25 of the pressure wheel 24.

In operation, a strip-shaped tape A is fed into the apparatus while the paste furnishing roller 3 is rotated by its axis 3 to bring up paste from the paste container box 2 onto the surface of the cage-shaped pasting roller 4 driven by its axis 4, whereby the paste is applied in lines on the surface of the tape A. This operation is repeated a number of predetermined times. When tape A is fed a certain fixed distance, the protuberances 11 and 12 on the respective cams 7 and 8 come into contact with one another through the action of the gears 9 and 10 of different diameters to raise up the pasting roller 4 slightly, by a distance of 2 to 3 mm, thereby interrupting paste application during this period. During this time the gears 9 and 10 continue to rotate keeping their meshed relation, so that engagement between said protuberances l1 and 12' is released with further rotation of the cams 7 and 8 to restore the original condition and to resume paste application to the tape surface. In this way, paste application to one unit length of the tape A is interrupted at certain fixed intervals.

The foregoing operation can be performed very smoothly since both of the cams 7 and 8 are rotated in such a manner as to let the cage-shaped pasting roller 4 move up and down according to the different rotational frequencies of cams 7 and 8. Also, since the pasting roller 4 is cage-shaped with its velocity being controlled to'correspond to the delivery speed of the tape A and since the axis 4' of said pasting roller 4 is vertically movable about the axis 3' and with an inclination relative to the tape A (see FIG. 4), there is absolutely no possibility that the pasting roller 4 may be abruptly dropped onto the surface of the tape A to damage it.

Tape A is further forcibly delivered by the roseshaped feed roller 13. This forced delivery can be performed correctly and at high speed owing to the effect of the recesses formed in the surface of the roller 13. In cases where the distance of travel of the tape A is excessively long or the tape paper quality is irregular meandering of the tape A may take place. In such cases it is desirable to provide a meandering preventive device.

Next, tape A is cut by the cutting roller into unit length paper cylinders, with the final unit cut being one with no paste applied. A harmonic drive system, such as JUST, may be used to adjust the cutting place of tape A by engagement with the rotating feed roller 13. During the cutting operation, there is no problem of the paste being deposited on the cutting edge of the cutting roller 15 or on the non-pasted unit to make the operation difficult to carry on, since paste is applied in lines or in dotted lines. The thus formed unit paper cylinders are further transported by the belts 19 and 22. Since the belt 22 is arranged slower in moving speed than the belt 19 each unit length paper cylinder is forced by the belt 19 into the inside of the teeth 25 of the serrated pressure wheel 24 and since the serrated pressure wheel 24 itself is also rotated, each unit length paper cylinder is further delivered onto the support block 27 and released thereon in an erect position. At this time, the outside of the teeth 25 push the non-pasted side of the previously delivered unit to paste it to the other units. It is to be noted here that since a unit with no paste applied thereto is delivered upon delivery of every fixed number of pasted units, the paper pots formed by bonding the pasted units are divided from one another by the non-pasted unit. Thus, according to the present invention, raw paper for paper pots is automatically formed into tape-shaped strips by known means and such strips are combined into a strip-shaped tape, such tape being cut into unit length paper cylinders which are then automatically bonded together to form a train of paper pot assemblies which are discharged onto a block 27 completely automatically.

As viewed above, paper pots are continuously produced by forming non-pasted units at certain fixed intervals during the successive feeding of the strip-shaped tape. But formation of the non-pasted units can be accomplished, instead of by interrupting paste application as saidabove, by attaching paper slips having a length equal to one unit paper pot on the tape after completing the continuous (non-interrupted) pasting on the entire tape surface. The latter embodiment is explained below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. After confirming through a photoelectric switch 36 that no paper slip is present on a delivery plate 33, a reduction motor 41 is operated to rotate a paper slip draw-out roller 31 to draw out one slip of paper from a paper slip containing box 30. This slip of paper is then passed between a pair of delivery rollers 32 and discharged onto the delivery plate 33, followed by correct positioning by a positioning means 34. Upon confirming completion of the above operation by the photoelectric switch 36, a reduction motor 42 is started causing a bite-in pawl 38 of a paper slip bonding wheel 39 to start rotating counterclockwise from the point B. When the bitein pawl 38, with its mouth opened, becomes congruous with the inclination of the paper slip delivery plate 33 by the action of a cam 43, the gate 35 is opened by the action of the cam 43 on the bonding wheel 39 and by the action of a gate cam 37. This allows the paper slip 29 to thrust into the bonding wheel 39, whereupon the bite-in pawl 38 is closed. As the pawl 38 reaches a point C, the reduction motor 42 is stopped to wait for the next operation.

On the other hand, when the photoelectric switch 36 confirms that the paper slip on the delivery plate has been discharged the reduction motor 41 is started. Then the cutting roller 15 is rotated a predetermined number of times, and upon receiving a paper slip pasting signal, an electromagnetic clutch 44 is energized to release the hold of the gear 45. This allows the paper slip on the bonding wheel 39 to begin rotating at the same speed as the strip-shaped tape A caught by the gear 46. When the paper slip 29 reaches the tape A the bite-in pawl 38 is opened to let free the paper slip and stopped upon arrival at the point B, thereby completing the paper slip bonding operation. In this case, if the paper slip is arranged to serve as a cover, the producing works can be simplified.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for producing paper cylinder assemblies for the nursing of seedlings or young plants, comprising:

feeding means for continuously feeding a stripshaped tape assembly in which a plurality of flattened hollow tapes are overlapped with each other through one half to one third of the width of each tape and bonded together along the overlapped portions; pasting means for applying paste transverse to said tape assembly in the form of lines or dotted lines;

cutting means for cutting said tape assembly at a predetermined length to form unit length pieces of said tape assembly;

interrupting means for forming unit lengths of substantially non-pasted areas in said tape assembly at predetermined fixed intervals; and

rotary laminating means for receiving said unit length pieces one by one and laminating them together, wherein all of said means are interlocked with one another to rotate responsive to each other.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said pasting means comprises a cageshaped pasting roller.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said interrupting means comprises a set of cam and gear means associated with said pasting roller and another set of cam and gear means meshed thereto; each of said cam means comprising a protuberance whereby when said cam means are rotated at different rotational velocities, said protuberances will contact one another, thereby, raising up said pasting roller from the surface of the tape assembly upon every predetermined amount of rotation of said meshed cam and gear means.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said interrupting means comprises a paper slip applying device; said paper slip applying device including means whereby a unit length of non-pasted paper is transferred and ing means comprises a rotatable serrated pressure wheel; said serrated pressure wheel including a plurality of sawtooth-like teeth whereby unit length paper cylinders are received by the inside of said teeth and delivered onto a support block while the outside of said teeth push the non-pasted side of the previously delivered unit to paste it to the other units. 

1. An apparatus for producing paper cylinder assemblies for the nursing of seedlings or young plants, comprising: feeding means for continuously feeding a stripshaped tape assembly in which a plurality of flattened hollow tapes are overlapped with each other through one half to one third of the width of each tape and bonded together along the overlapped portions; pasting means for applying paste transverse to said tape assembly in the form of lines or dotted lines; cutting means for cutting said tape assembly at a predetermined length to form unit length pieces of said tape assembly; interrupting means for forming unit lengths of substantially non-pasted areas in said tape assembly at predetermined fixed intervals; and rotary laminating means for receiving said unit length pieces one by one and laminating them together, wherein all of said means are interlocked with one another to rotate responsive to each other.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said pasting means comprises a cageshaped pasting roller.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein said interrupting means comprises a set of cam and gear means associated with said pasting roller and another set of cam and gear means meshed thereto; each of said cam means comprising a protuberance whereby when said cam means are rotated at different rotational velocities, said protuberances will contact one another, thereby, raising up said pasting roller from the surface of the tape assembly upon every predetermined amount of rotation of said meshed cam and gear means.
 4. The device of claim 1 wherein said interrupting means comprises a paper slip applying device; said paper slip applying device including means whereby a unit length of non-pasted paper is transferred and bonded to continuously pasted tape assemblies at predetermined intervals.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein said feeding means comprises a rose-shaped feed roller having recessed and protruding portions in its surface whereby said tape assembly is fed by stepping over the pasted parts with said recessed portions.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein said rotary laminating means comprises a rotatable serrated pressure wheel; said serrated pressure wheel including a plurality of sawtooth-like teeth whereby unit length paper cylinders are received by the inside of said teeth and delivered onto a support block while the outside of said teeth push the non-pasted side of the previously delivered unit to paste it to the other units. 